WWALS Watershed Coalition advocates for conservation and stewardship of the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, and Suwannee River watersheds in south Georgia and north Florida through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

Tag Archives: Central Florida

Update 2018-12-30: The new organization WATERKEEPERS Florida, as one of its first acts, on December 19, 2018, signed the Resolution Against Phosphate Mines in Florida, thus committing all thirteen of its member organizations.

WHEREAS, Waterkeeper Alliance Members are obligated and dedicated to protect the water
resources, citizens’ interests, and related benefits in their
jurisdictions; and

WHEREAS, phosphate mines have been shown to threaten and cause actual harm to these
resources, interest, and related benefits; and

WHEREAS, there are several phosphate mine projects in various stages of permitting in local,
state, and federal agencies including county and city governments,
Water Management Districts (WMDs),
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP),
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); and

WHEREAS, there seems to be no public list of current phosphate mines and related facitlities,
which include at least

Just how much more water can Central Florida pump from the Floridan
Aquifer without causing real harm to the region’s environment? After
years of debate, study and anxiety, state authorities say they have
finally — and officially — figured it out.

The answer: hardly any.

Using the most advanced databases and computing methodology yet
developed for such a task, a consortium of state water managers and
local utilities have calculated that the current amount of water
pumped from the underground aquifer each day can be increased by
only about 6 percent — which means the region is already
exploiting the huge, life-sustaining aquifer for nearly every drop
it can safely offer.